"Wait, you mean to tell me the reason you all were acting so weird is because we were in danger because of a tree?"
Jax asked, surprised, as they approached the minecart to head down the mountain.
"Yes, Aiden looked at the tree, got a pale look on his face that meant he realized something, I saw it, and I decided not to question it."
Liora said this while crossing her arms.
"Well, think about it. The barrier is designed to keep something in. The tree started bleeding. The Ash Spirits were getting animals away and burning any vegetation that couldn't leave. Combined with the bleeding tree, that means the tree is probably what is trying to be contained."
Kaelen said this as they rounded the bend to the cart.
Everyone put their things inside and found seats as the cart started down the track. Due to the extra weight, Aiden had to brake more often adding both a new level of noise to the ride, and slowing it down.
At least this time, he had his glasses.
"That still doesn't explain why the Ash Spirits are so hostile to us."
Jax said as they approached a longer straightaway.
Aiden turned to Kaelen, who seemed to be in thought.
"Well, Ash Spirits are created from those who die in a fire with a lasting desire. What if the Ash Spirits were people staying at the shrine who tried to burn the tree and got burned themselves?"
"That could make sense, but the shrine itself looks untouched. If they had tried to burn the tree, why wouldn't the shrine be burned too?"
Liora asked as they started to approach the end of the track.
"Maybe, but we won't know for sure unless we figure out what kind of entity we are dealing with."
Jax said this as the cart came to a slow halt and everyone started to step out.
They made their way past the water wheel and toward the wall of Hopestone.
Luckily, Qos was not on wall duty today. However, neither was Larz. Instead, it was Engar, an older human woman Aiden knew, but not on close with.
She put him off slightly because she was always extremely flirty with his grandfather. His grandfather found it charming, but it always made Aiden feel a bit weirded out.
Especially when she was extremely boisterous about nighttime activities.
Near the gate was a small line, with a group of travelers leaving a rolling caravan. The caravan itself was a monstrous thing, made of cylindrical cars, each with sets of wheels on them and attached almost like a caterpillar. A set of twin powered cars in the front and back served to steer and drive the whole thing.
Grandpa always talked about how the carbincle engines in them took up almost the whole 20-foot-long car, but Aiden always found that hard to believe.
The group hopped in line at the end and waited for their turn.
It took almost an hour.
Kaelen did not mind because he had time to pray. Liora ended up trying to recreate the magic circle from the mountain with no success. Aiden finally got to crack open and read a few chapters of his 7 Stars book.
Jax became stir-crazy and literally ran from the north gate and back, an almost eight-mile journey. Lucky for him, they were only behind two people when he returned.
When they finally reached the gate, Engar turned and had a look of pleasant surprise when Aiden walked up.
"Ah, Aiden. Long time no see. Who are your friends here?"
Jax jumped in before Aiden could answer.
"We're his soon-to-be adventuring group. I'm Jax. This is Kaelen, and this is Liora."
Aiden wanted to refute this, but a part of him hesitated.
Apparently, it was too long, because Engar asked,
"So you all must be the adventuring group sent to see what's wrong with the mountain. There's smoke starting to appear on the side near the city. It's not super big, but apparently, there is a whole big circle of burning if you head out about a mile from the north gate."
"That's the work of Ash Spirits. We're trying to figure out what's going on, and we need to do a bit of research and stock up on items in the city."
Aiden said this while pulling out his information as the others did the same.
Engar looked them over, and as they all walked past, she put a hand on Aiden's shoulder.
"Have you seen your grandfather around? Been meaning to hitch a ride on the dragon, if you know what I mean."
Aiden pulled away, his face turning bright red as he stammered,
"N-No, but should you really be talking about stuff like that?"
He turned to the others.
Liora was just as red in the face as Aiden was. Jax looked like he was trying and failing not to laugh. Kaelen had the same neutral expression he always had.
"Why not? The man was a beast. He would just get in there!"
Engar accentuated this by making various movements with her hands and pelvis.
Aiden quickly stormed off with Engar laughing behind him.
As they walked, Liora refused to meet his gaze, and Jax broke down into a barely contained giggling fit every time he looked at him. This only made Aiden more embarrassed.
Kaelen patted Aiden's shoulder, and for a moment, Aiden thought he would comfort him.
Instead, Kaelen said,
"You must be blessed by Freyungen to have the dragon run in your family."
Liora shook her head and stormed toward the library while Jax finally broke, devolving into a laughing fit on the ground.
"I... I... Shut up!"
Aiden said, trying and failing to come up with a comeback before he stormed over to Stoic's Stocks to see Peridot and check if he had any Firestarter Flasks in stock.
When Aiden reached the door, he could see someone in a cloak inside who seemed to be looking over the potions on the shelf.
As he made his way inside, he found Peridot still asleep. The figure seemed to be standing near Peridot as if they were unsure if they should wake them or not and got distracted reading the labels.
"Sorry about my friend. She has a tendency to sleep soundly. Welcome to Stoic's Stocks. Can I help you with anything?"
Aiden said this while quickly making his way around the counter.
The figure turned to him, and Aiden could see what looked like a younger guy with emerald green eyes and brown hair down to around his shoulders. Their mouth was covered by a scarf, and they looked between Aiden and the sleeping Peridot for a moment before asking something in a very quiet voice that Aiden could not hear.
"I'm sorry, could you repeat that a little louder for me?"
Aiden asked, leaning in a bit.
"Are you Stoic Hallowcreek?"
The figure asked in a whisper.
Aiden leaned back from where he had been listening closely. This happened occasionally. His grandfather was someone who had a bunch of weird friends all over the place, so some would come by from time to time.
"No. My grandfather is traveling and didn't tell me when he would be back. I know some of his potion recipes if you need something of his made."
Aiden offered this while turning back to where his grandfather's special mortar and pestle sat, in case he needed to start working with the ingredients.
The figure looked at him for a moment before asking,
"Are you an alchemist?"
"Ever since I was 10. I'm pretty sure I'm one of Hopestone's only practicing alchemists if that's what you're referring to."
Aiden said, shrugging his shoulders as a bit of pride swelled up inside him.
The figure reached into their cloak and pulled out what looked to be a small notebook. They placed it on the counter only using their right arm to flip the pages before sliding it towards Aiden.
It contained what looked like a diary entry talking about how the caravan was uncomfortable and how the writer might just jump out and go on foot.
"I'm sorry your ride was so uncomfortable?"
Aiden was confused about what the person actually wanted.
The figure quickly looked down at the diary and grabbed it back, flipping the pages. While they did, Aiden saw that their left arm looked strange.
Their right arm was human and normal, but their left arm was purple, with almost ribbon-like lines of black and red running along its surface. The back of the arm, above, below, and on the elbow, had sharp orange protrusions that looked like spikes from some hyper-aggressive monster species.
The figure saw that Aiden could see the arm and quickly drew it back into their cloak.
"Well, I need to see it if I'm going to treat it, but I'm not so sure what an alchemist can do for that. My friend Peridot here is a pharmacist. She may be able to help."
The figure shook their head.
After a moment of pulling their diary back into their hood, they flipped to another page, checked that it was correct, and held it out to Aiden.
This page made more sense. It was covered in notes for recipes, and after looking for a moment, Aiden saw that there were three of them.
A mana potion, an aura potion, and a faith potion.
"Are you trying to sell these to me?"
Aiden asked, getting ready to pull out his coin pouch.
He was not sure if a mana potion would work on Ki, but they did not have any other solution for if they had to fight the Ash Spirits, so he figured it would be money well spent.
The figure shook their head. After a moment, they took a deep breath and said, now slightly louder but still not much higher than a whisper,
"I need an energy potion, but the only recipes I could find were mana, aura, and faith potions. I was hoping you could potentially figure out the recipe from the other recipes if you knew these ones."
Aiden looked over the recipes and then turned back to the figure with a slightly pitying look.
"It would be mostly guesswork. Take a look at the aura potion compared to the faith potion for example. The aura potion uses one part Abjurasia and one part Belramba, which are very different ingredients from the faith potion, which uses two parts Jeffaray and one part Coparnia. If there was a uniting herb, there could be a chance, but with these recipes, it would be a shot in the dark. Though there may be a way to get the recipe in town. May I know why you need energy potions?"
The figure took a moment before saying,
"I have AES. Aetheric Expulsion Syndrome. I heard that there is a treatment to alleviate the symptoms by drinking energy potions daily."
The way they said it was still quiet and reserved, but Aiden could feel a desperation in their voice as they spoke, like someone looking at one of their last leads towards an answer.
"I'm sorry for my ignorance, but what exactly is Aetheric Expulsion Syndrome? Is it what made your arm like that, or?"
Aiden asked, trying to rack his brain for what AES was.
The figure quickly held both hands up, revealing their strange left arm as they looked back and forth, almost panicked.
"Oh no, don't apologize. It's a rare condition. I wouldn't expect you to know what it is. I am the only person I have even met who has ever had it, and I have had to explain this oft-"
They cut off and winced.
They had been talking quickly. After a moment, they said,
"Sorry, I bith my tunge."
Aiden chuckled a bit and gave them a moment to calm down before they continued.
"It's a condition where my energy reserves are constantly draining slowly. Every time I breathe out, bits of energy go with it. So if you had it, you would breathe out bits of mana. This can make it so when I use skills, the energy in the air can react and cause my other skills to activate without my intention, like accidentally spilling strong alcohol near a fire."
Aiden pulled out his notebook and took notes on what they said as a question came to mind.
"Then wouldn't it make more sense to drink a potion related to your energy type? I know mana, aura, faith, and spirit are the core four energies. General energy potions are less effective because the body has to change the aether into the corresponding energy right?"
The figure looked around as if looking for a way to escape the situation before finally saying in an almost defeated voice,
"System."
Selene "Morphclaw" Drakemire
Age: 18
Race: Human
Class: Mutant - LV. 5
XP: 7,200 / 10,000
HP: 35/35
Mutation: 32/65
Stats:
Strength: 28
Dexterity: 3
Constitution: 20
Intelligence: 2
Wisdom: 18
Charisma: 4
Soul Skill:
Chimeric Surge (C)
50 Mutation
Your mutated arm can channel an overwhelming surge of energy, amplifying your strength and granting additional functionality temporarily. When activated, your arm grows larger, sprouting bio-organic enhancements like tendrils or plating, allowing you to perform feats of extraordinary strength for 10 seconds. Afterward, you feel drained and tired.
Skills:
Evolved Form (E)
Passive
Your body has adapted and twisted in ways that make shape-changing effects difficult. You have advantage on saves against shape-changing effects and any effects that alter your physical form. Effects that do succeed last half as long on you. This skill provides passive resistance to external attempts to alter your body.
Mutate (E)
10 Mutation
You can push a part of your body to act beyond its normal capabilities, granting enhancements like elongated limbs, strengthened muscles, or hardened skin. Once mutated, the effect is permanent until replaced with a different mutation. Mutations provide specific stat boosts or unique abilities based on the mutation's nature.
Hidden Monstrosity (E)
25 Mutation
Your mutations can be concealed at will, allowing you to appear normal until you activate specific abilities. Passive mutations remain hidden, but active ones will temporarily reveal your monstrous traits. This skill allows mutants to blend in with society while still wielding their powers.
Claws of the Beast (E)
15 Mutation
Grow razor-sharp claws on your hands, dealing 2d6 slashing damage on unarmed strikes. This skill provides an offensive mutation, turning your hands into natural weapons.
Flaw:
Aetheric Expulsion Syndrome (AES) (B)
Passive
Your body constantly releases small amounts of raw magical energy, making it difficult to suppress your abilities or skills.
Involuntary Activation: Whenever you cast a spell or use an ability requiring energy, there is a chance the effect triggers an uncontrolled surge. This surge causes a random part of your body to mutate, using actions in combat and mutation against your will.
Energy Loss: At the start of each short or long rest, you cannot regain more than half of your max energy.
Suppressed Control: When attempting to suppress or resist magical effects targeting your energy or skills, you find it harder than most due to the instability of your aether.
Aiden looked over the window and saw Selene's class, soul skill, and what AES was in its entirety. A few questions immediately came to mind.
He had never heard of the mutant class, and these skills seemed rather monstrous.
Her arm was her soul skill. It seemed powerful for a fight but unwieldy otherwise.
This whole time, they were a girl?
Before Aiden could ask any of these questions out loud, the door swung inward, and Jax, Kaelen, and Liora came in.
Selene stepped back, a bit surprised. She looked nervous, glancing between Aiden and the group as if trying to figure out whether she should let them go ahead of her.
Aiden figured the best way to get back to Selene, who seemed rather timid, was to deal with what the others had to ask. So he turned to them and asked,
"Did you all figure anything out about the bleeding tree?"
Kaelen and Liora would not meet his gaze. Jax stepped forward, looking mopey.
"No, but we did figure out something much worse."
Aiden felt a shiver as he thought back to the feeling of danger from the tree. He turned back to Jax, clearly worried.
"What did you find out?"
Jax turned to him with a pleading look and said,
"As it turns out, the three of us are flat broke, but we knew you owned a shop, so we figured we could come to you."
Whatever worry Aiden had been feeling vanished as he realized why Liora and Kaelen refused to meet his eyes.
Jax, however, seemed to lack shame as he looked at Aiden expectantly.
As Aiden's frustration built, he felt his eye twitch.